Family Partner, by Taylor Graham

Family Partner

My dog stares into the heart of me.
Nose to skin she’s scenting what lies
beneath, what came before. Her memory
of scent is long and living.
She could smell a cancer lurking,
or a wish not spoken – powers
that grow without our knowing. Airborne
invisible specks of human scurf or
a virus moving with the fluid dynamics
of passing time. She senses this
more acutely than doctor’s instruments
as she listens to my heart.

Taylor Graham